Apparatus for the destructive distillation of wood.



WW6 if 0'. 05pm No. 677,204. Patented June 25, l90l. G. 0. GlLMER.

APPARATUS FOR THE DESTRUCTIVE blSTlL-LATION 0F WOOD.

(Application filed Aug. 18, 1900. J

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A 770/?NE rs Nu. 677,204. Patented lune 25, l90l. G. 0. GILMEB.

APPARATUS FOR THE DESTRUCTIVE DISTILLATION 0F WOOD.

, (Application filed Aug. 18, 1900. (No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet .2.

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APPARAITUSIFJOIZ TI-IE DESTBUCTIVE DISTILLATION 0F woon.

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UNITED STATES ZQTE Qa GEORGE O. GILIWIER, OF NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA.

APPARATUS FOR THE ,DESTRUCTIVE DISTILLATION OF WOOD.

SFECIFIOATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 677,204, dated June 25,1901.

Application filed August 18, 1900. Serial No. 27,302. (No model.)

T0 (4% 1071 0127, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE O. GILMER, residing at New Orleans, in theparish of Orleans and State of Louisiana, have made certain new anduseful Improvements in Apparatus for the DestructiveDistillation ofWood, of which the following is a specification.

My invention is an improved apparatus for use in producing turpentine,tar, wood-alcohol, and charcoal from fat pine, and has for an obj eot toprovide a simple construction by which the vapors from the closed retortwill be drawn from the bottom thereof while the heat will be applied tothe top of the retort, so that the top portion of the wood in the retortwill give off its vapors first, which vapors will descend through thecool wood below, so that the turpentine-vapors, which will be given offfirst, will be discharged from the vapor-discharge free from anycontaminating impregnation by the tarry or creosotic vapors. I

The invention has for further objects to provide a novel construction bywhich to control the separate discharge of the products of distillation;and the invention consists in certain novel constructions andcombinations of parts, as will be hereinafter described and claimed.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a front elevation, partly in section,showing a battery of retorts and their furnaces embodying my invention.In this figure the still at the left is shown in front elevation, thatin the middle in section on about line so a; of Fig. 2, and that at theright on about line y y of Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectiondrawn through one of the retorts on about line 2 2 of Fig. 1, and Fig. 3is a sectional plan view of one of the retorts on about line 3 3 of Fig.2.

In carrying out my invention I employ a closed or hermetically-sealedretort, from the bottom of which leads a vapor-discharge, together withheating devices arranged to discharge the heat directly to the top ofthe retort. It is well understood that heat ascends and that the topwood in the retort will be first heated and will therefore give off itsvapors first. The first vapor from fat pine is turpentine, which isgiven off at 321 Fahrenheit. When the heat reaches 400 Fahrenheit at thetop of the retort, the wood at such point will give off tar and creosoteoils, while the wood below it, being cooler, is still giving offturpentine vapors. If the turpentine-vapors should be passed through thewood that is giving off creosote and tar vapors, the turpentine, being apowerful solvent of these oils, will become impregnated with them, andas creosote and turpentine are so nearly of the same specific gravity itis prac tically impossible to separate them in distillation. As creosoteis a non-drier, it makes the turpentine discharged merely in the natureof a solvent oil worthless as a drier for paint. By my invention Iobviateall this by drawing off vapors with a vacuum-pump from the lowestpoint of the retort, it may be from the bottom or from one end on a linewith the bottom of the retort, as shown in Fig. 2. By doing this theturpentine-vapors are all drawn down and out before the wood in thebottom of the retort gets hot enough to give off tarry and creosoticfumes, which enables me to produce by distillation a pure spirits ofturpentine that is a perfect drier and in all respects as good asorchard turpentine.

In the construction shown the retorts A are preferably of steel incylindrical form and arranged to incline toward one end, preferably therear, from which point, at the bottom thereof, leads the vapor-dischargepipe B, which will be more fully described. In practice this retort ispacked with wood, then hermetically sealed. It should be noted here thatin the practice of my invention I do not introduce live steam into theretort, because the introduction thereof has the effect of par tiallysaponifying the turpentine given 0E by the wood, with the result thatwhen the turpentine is used in paint it leaves a soapy or fatty finishwhen it dries, rendering the turpentine worthless as a drier for paint.The furnace G is arranged below the retort at the front end of thelatter, and a protecting-wall D extends above the furnace and rearwardlybelow the retort to a point near the rear end of the retort and operatesto form a dead-air space D below the retort for nearly the full lengthof the latter. The products of combustion pass from the furnace rearwardly below the wall D and discharge at the rear end of said wall to theflues E, of which I provide two, one at each side of the apparatus andextending forwardly from their inlet endsE' in lines on opposite sidesof and below the retort A to a point near the front end of said retort,where they discharge upwardly at E to upwardly-extending flue-passages Ein the walls of the furnace, which conduct the heat, smoke, &c., anddischarge the same directly to the top of the retort at a point near thefront end thereof, as will be understood in Figs. 1 and 2 of thedrawings.

Walls 1 are arranged to close the space on opposite sides of the retortabove the fines E to a point near the front ends of the retort, wherethe lines E discharge at their forward ends to the spaces above theupper edge of the walls 1, so the heat discharged by the flues E willoperate upon the upper portion of the retort and not upon the lowerportion.

In Fig. 1 the shaded portion at 2 represents the back wall, alsoindicated by 2 in Fig. 2, and the portion 3 is the front face of thewall which supports the rear end of the retort. The part designated by 4in Figs. 2 and 3 is the top of the wall which forms a support for theextended portion of the pipe B. In Fig. 2, 5 indicates the under side ofthe arch, and 6 in Figs. 2 and 3 indicates the inner faces of theupright walls at the opposite sides of the smoke-chamber F.

At the rear of the retort I provide a smokechamber F, to which theproducts of combustion are discharged and which communicates at F with asmoke-uptake F The vapordischarge pipe B leads through the smokechamberF and is provided with separate discharges for the dilferent products ofdistillation, as will be presently described. By leading thisdischarge-pipe B through the smokechamber the heat in the latteroperates to keep the native tar warm and soft, so it will dischargeproperly. The tar and pitch, which are not volatile, are drawn off at G,a valve 9 being provided to control the discharge of such matter. Fromthe pipe B leads the turpentine-Vapor pipe H, which extends upward andis provided at h with a valve, by which it may be closed at a point ashort distance above the main vapor-pipe B. A short distance below thevalve h I connect with the pipe H the pipe I, which is provided with avalve 1;. Through this pipe I the tar-oils, the creosote, andthe-pyroligneous acids pass to their condensers. By the several valvesdescribed I am able to control the discharge of the several products ofthe distillation and to direct the same to the desired point.

In the operation of the apparatus the steel retort is filled with woodand hermetically sealed. The fire is lighted in the furnace and thedraft will draw the flames back under the protecting-wall D, and thenceforward through the fines E, and then up, as indicated by the arrows, tothe top of the retort, thus heating the wood at the top of the retortfirst, so that the turpentine-vap0rs,which are drawn off at the bottomor in a line with the bottom of the retort, will pass only through coldwood and will not be contaminated by tarry or creosotic fumes. The valveh is open while the wood is giving off turpentine-vapors, and the othervalves are closed. As is well under stood, the turpentine-vapors aregiven offfirst and are drawn from the retort by a pump,

which is indicated at J, and is preferably a Vacuum-pu mp located in thedistillery. These turpentine-vapors are discharged through the pipe H toa suitable condenser, (not shown,) and the operation of which is wellunderstood by those skilled in the art. As soon as the turpentine in thewood has been extracted and creosotic and tarry vapors are given off thevalve his closed and the valve 1 is opened. The vapor is then dischargedthrough the pipe I to separate condensers and is prevented from passingto and contaminating the condensers for the turpentine. The valve g maybe opened as often as necessary to keep the vapor-discharge pipe B freeof the native tar.

It will be noticed that the construction of the heating devices not onlyenables me to discharge the heat to the right point at the top of theretort, but also, by the construction of the protecting-wall, to producea dead-air chamber, and enables me to control the temperature in theretort and hold it at the proper degree to cause the wood to give offthe turpentine or the tar-oils, as desired.

By the use of the downdraft, as described, I am able to keep the bottomof the retorts so cool that the native tar-oil will run out instead ofbeing burned up. The native tar and pitch of pine wood must be eitherdrawn off at the bottom of the retort or else be suffered to burn up,and as such tar and pitch chill and harden the instant cold air operatesupon them I provide a smoke-chamber which keeps the discharge-pipe warmuntil the tar and pitch are discharged.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States, is

1. In an apparatus for the destructive distillation of wood, thecombination substantially as described, of the retort having avapor-discharge at its lower end, the furnace, the protecting-wallleading from said furnace rearwardly below the retort and forming adead-air chamber below such retort, the fines arranged to receive theproducts of combustion from such protecting-wall at a point near therear end of the retort and extending thence forward to a point near thefront of the retort, and a casing provided with fines and passages forreceiving the products of com bustion from said flu'es and directing thesame to the top of the retort, substantially as set forth.

2. In an apparatus for the destructive distillation of wood, the retortfor receiving the wood provided with a discharge-pipe having the branchH, the branch I and the branch or discharge G, and provided with thevalves h, '5 and g for controlling the discharge of the l l l l l 10 todischarge the same to the retort at the 1 front end of the latter, meansfor directing such products substantially to the top of the retort, andthe tar and vapor discharge at the lower end of the retort,substantially as described.

GEORGE O. GILMER.

Witnesses:

ANDREW HERO, J r., O. M. HERO.

